Each year federal agencies and small businesses connect at the National Small Business Conference, an opportunity for networking, building partnerships with federal agencies, and matchmaking between large corporations and small businesses. The conference is an invaluable opportunity for small businesses to connect with the DoD, but it’s also an avenue for federal agencies to connect with new partners developing innovative solutions for the warfighter. Read on to learn more.
As its name suggests The National Small Business Conference is an important event for small businesses across America, but the conference is also a critical event for federal government agencies. For federal agencies, the conference enables networking opportunities with small businesses to identify innovative solutions to mission critical problems and the opportunity to overcome contracting challenges to access novel technologies more quickly. For small businesses, the conference represents the opportunity to enter the federal marketplace by making connections with prime contractors and large corporations. However, the conference also offers small businesses the opportunity to be mentored by federal agencies to refine their solutions and align their value with federal agency needs.
One program in particular, the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP), connects Pentagon IT leaders with small businesses that are developing next-generation solutions to support the warfighter. While the program might have started as a small business enablement initiative, it has grown quickly to become a strategic acquisition enabler. “The DoD Mentor- Protégé Program helps resolve the tension DoD buyers face between speed, compliance, cybersecurity rigor, and long-term industrial-base resilience,” shared Torie Williams, President of Chenega Agile Real-Time Solutions (CARS), who will be participating in the program this year. “The program addresses some of the fundamental frustrations felt by DoD leadership when it comes to building a broader base of technology and solutions partners and builds rapport between both sides as they work together in person to support the warfighter.”
The MPP works by pairing small businesses with mentor firms to identify solutions the DoD needs. “The small businesses bring speed and innovation while the mentors bring the delivery maturity models that enable the DoD to move fast while maintaining compliance with security, audit, and sustainment requirements,” Williams explained. “The program minimizes risks for both sides of the mentorship. The DoD can access emerging technology and applications, like automation and AI-enabled operations, and rapid prototyping with the backing of a trusted operational partner. Meanwhile, the MPP helps the small business manage their risk as eligibility and subcontracting requirements change.”
Beyond mitigating risks for both parties, the MPP addresses other key concerns for the DoD, including two radically different dimensions of security. Integrating small business into the DoD supply chain mitigates the Department’s dependence on a small number of prime contractors. “For years now, the DoD has been concerned with its dependence on a few large corporations,” explained Williams. “The risks associated with doing business with a small number of vendors include stifling innovation, limitations on competition resulting in high costs, vulnerable supply chains, and national security risks. Being able to expand the defense industrial base with small businesses that are fit for purpose, expands the possibilities for innovation, strengthens the supply chain, and most importantly diversifies risk and lowers costs through competition.”
The other dimension of security that MPP teams offer is in secure development. With their own operations built on agility and iterative development, small businesses’ experience with DevSecOps has never been more important. “With the cloud being fundamental to mission success today, a DevSecOps approach is the natural choice to ensure secure development, deployment and operations,” Williams explained. In short, this approach to modernization is one that will support mission success at scale and for the long haul.
With the United States approaching a war time footing, speed and agility along with cost management have never been more important. The DoD must be able to access innovative solutions that will deliver strategic capabilities to the warfighter without administrative burdens, which is where small businesses, particularly 8(a) Native Alaskan Corporations, excel. With procurement cycles measured in weeks – not months or years – innovative solutions for the warfighter can be delivered at the speed of need.